“He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.”
- Lindsey Graham, December 2015
“The best president our country’s had since Ronald Reagan”
- Lindsey Graham, March 2020
“I have never been called this much by a president in my life.”
- Lindsey Graham, February 2019
In the 2016 campaign cycle, Lindsey Graham was one of the most ardent Republican critics of Donald Trump. He called Trump a “bigot,” he called him a “kook,” and he said over and over that Trump was not morally in-line with Republicans. In fact, he was such a Trump opponent that in 2016, he couldn’t even bring himself to back Trump as the nominee and instead voted third party. And yet, moments after Trump became elected, Graham became one of his biggest supporters.
Giving Graham the benefit of the doubt, it’s hard to determine on speculation alone whether he became close to the president out of self-interest, or because of new-found respect for Trump’s leadership and policies. It’s hard to know exactly why Graham flip-flopped in his opposition to Trump, but thankfully, we don’t have to speculate; he answered all these questions in an interview with the New York Times.
“If you know anything about me, it’d be odd not to do this…to try to be relevant,” said Graham, openly declaring his desire to be cozy with the president to have more influence. There was no mention of formerly detesting Trump’s positions, no mention of formerly calling him a bigot on live TV, and no reference to how he did not even vote for him in 2016. All of a sudden, he was Trump’s biggest fan, willing to become Trump’s lap-dog in the Senate. When asked about his relationship with Trump, Graham bragged, “I’m getting into the smaller orbit now.” The one with “Melania, Ivanka, Jared.”
In this interview, there was no concern from Graham about being seen as a flip-flopper, no concern about being “too easy” on Trump, and no concern about enabling (in Graham’s words) the “bigot” in the White House. This was all not an issue, because, as Graham explained, he had “never been called this much by a president” in his life.
Leaving His Best Political Friend Behind
It tinges Graham’s flip-flopping even worse towards Trump when one considers that Lindsey Graham’s closest personal and political friend was John McCain. “They were inseparable,” said Susan Collins, discussing the relationship between McCain and Graham. When McCain passed, it was as if Lindsey had “lost a father.” And of course, as we all remember before his death, Trump implied that John McCain was a “loser” for being a prisoner of war. He called soldiers who fought in the military “suckers,” and has no history of respect for the armed forces.
To be honest, if I were Graham, I would never admit at this point that I was friends with John McCain. I’d be afraid of people calling me spineless, I’d be afraid of people attacking my legacy, and I’d be afraid of people in my state seeing me as being overly desperate to get on prime-time. Thinking about it, I don’t even think the word “spineless” comes close to describing turning on such a respectable friend.
Lindsey Graham ran for president in 2016. He polled below 1%, and was never able to get out of the so-called “JV debates” in 2016 and into prime-time. And in a clip that was lampooned over and over by the Daily Show, “it sucks,” he said, referring to his low numbers. Thankfully, for him, after turning on only his best friend, his morals, and his party, Graham will never have to deal with being out of the limelight for so long again.
While this is enough for Graham, at some point, one has to make a stand. And apparently, Trump’s temperament, Trump’s racism, and Trump’s profound disrespect for members of the armed forces aren’t enough. And that leaves the question, how far would Lindsey Graham let Trump go in his second term? How quickly will he “forget” his earlier commitment to paths to citizenship for undocumented immigrants? And how long is Graham content doing Trump’s dirty work in the Senate?
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For information on how to vote in South Carolina, see here. To learn more about how the candidates differ on education policy, see here. To learn more about how Trump's trade war with China has hurt South Carolina and Lindsey Graham's complicity, see here.